Lurie’s admission won’t bring comfort to Eagles fans
He went too far with his gold-standard declaration, and his vow of multiple Super Bowl championships elicited cackles. But, well, there was always something valuable in Jeffrey Lurie’s self-confidence, impatience and demands.
The regular declarations from the Eagles’ owner gave his players the idea that they were expected to win, gave the fans the comfort that the organization was ever plotting a parade route, and elevated his organization above some other franchises on its block that had been showing a greater tolerance for failure.
That’s why it was at least a cause for melancholy when the Eagles’ owner darn near channeled his inner Sam Hinkie last week in Arizona, where the NFL was holding its meetings.
“It takes a very patient, disciplined approach,” Lurie was quoted as saying. “Short-term solutions to get to 10-6.” He added, “You’ve got to draft well. You’ve got to have multiple drafts in a row, hopefully, where you’re surrounding that quarterback on all sides of the ball. That’s the formula. It’s not that complicated.”
And there it was, the four-for-four surrender, the Eagles joining the Phillies, Flyers and 76ers in attempting to buy public forbearance as they slowly rebuild. End of an era.
Not that Lurie is fundamentally wrong. His view is that nothing could have been done without a franchise quarterback and that Carson Wentz needs years of experi- ence and acquired draft assistance to become one.
“We’re more than one player away,” Lurie said. “We have a lot of holes.”
It was all kind of funny when Donovan McNabb was promising that the Eagles were about to “skyrocket,” or when Vince Young was declaring a “Dream Team,” or even years before Lurie’s arrival when Buddy Ryan was making faces at Tom Landry.
But, well, that has been the Eagles’ way. And, just so Lurie knows, that other way hasn’t shown it can work, either.
■ The Oakland Raiders will move to Las Vegas, where over-the-counter gambling on NFL games is available and encouraged. Odd, but wasn’t it the NFL that essentially blockaded New Jersey from allowing legalized sports gaming in casinos and racetracks, even though its citizens formally voted in favor of the idea?
If the NFL wants to grab whatever it can from taxpayers to help fund a $1.9 billion domed stadium in Vegas, fine. Do it. Run a sports book in the upper deck. Make it rain in the nightclubs. Install a baccarat pit in the locker room. Change the name of the franchise to the Rat Pack. Own the idea. It’s worth trillions.
But it’s one or the other. Accept sports gaming. Or pretend it is evil. Because sneaking up and down Fremont Street after dark is not good business. It’s just creepy.
■ The NFL is resisting an Eagles urge to return to Kelly green uniforms. Something about the helmets. Whatever. It’s just amazing that the league is more tolerant of a franchise changing locations than it is in one changing the color of its pants.
■ You know what sounds like a fun time? Standing behind 199,999 other fans on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway during the upcoming NFL Draft, hoping to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars’ choice try on a hat and say he is happy to be there. Save me a spot.
Get transformer movies?
There was one way, just one, for Penn State to move past the Jerry Sandusky disaster. It was to have the convicted child abuser properly imprisoned and then let time cleanse the reputation of an otherwise proud institution. How much time? Plenty. Then plenty more. Don’t ask. A lot. But at some point, that clock would start ticking. And at some point, it would ring the all-clear alarm.
The only way for the tragedy to remain relevant would be for, say, some sitting Penn State trustee to write that he is “running out of sympathy” for Sandusky’s “so-called” victims. Yet that’s what Penn State trustee Albert L. Lord emailed to the Chronicle of Higher Education. His opinion was that the grown victims of Sandusky’s crimes were too prominently involved in the trial of former Penn State president Graham Spanier, who would be found guilty on a count of child endangerment due to his handling of a complaint about Sandusky.
Lord can have his opinions. He can email every journal of advanced thought. He can defend them, argue them, believe them. But he has to know that his email has re-set that clock, inviting more discussion about a disturbing situation, not less.
I don’t get why baseball managers, even at the amateur level, wear trash bags.
Radnor High grad Emlen Tunnell was a World War II naval hero and the first African-American member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For that, Delaware County sports fans are planning to remember him with a statue outside the Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum in Radnor.
While the funding for the $100,000 project already has been generous, more help is needed.
To have your name published in a commemorative booklet and to receive other benefits, send a tax-deductible contribution to the museum at 301 Iven Ave., Wayne, Pa., 19087. For additional information, go to www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com or contact Erica Burman at 610-246-4982.
Currently on loan to the museum is Tunnell’s silver life-saving medal, awarded by the United States Coast Guard to individuals who put their lives in danger to save another. At least twice during the war, Tunnell showed such courage, including 1944 when a Japanese torpedo damaged the USS Etamin and Tunnell assisted shipmate Eddie Shaver, who was on fire, suffering burns of his own.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.